3 ms·
Here is a hypothesis that fits the data perfectly (but that could have a somewhat low prior): - A poor studen has discovered that there is a demand in the wet
by trashtester 4y ago
Here is a hypothesis that fits the data perfectly (but that could have a somewhat low prior):
- A poor studen has discovered that there is a demand in the wet market for bats.
- The student works at a lab that either has an in-house breeding area for presumably healthy bats, or that buy such bats from an external vendor.
- The student sees the opportunity for some extra income by selling some of those bats to the local wet market
- By some accident, one or more of the bats sold have been infected with some of the virusues being studied at the labratory.
Edit: A variation of the above idea would be if some bat-specialist (someone with skills for catching, keeping or transporting bats were working both the for virology institute AND for the wet market). This person could have, in some way, facilitated transfer of a virus from the institute to the wet market.
There is probably a number of such possible ways to associate the lab with the wet market, simply based on the two having a shared interest in bats.
- riyadparvez 4y agoI've heard it from someone who was in China after the pandemic emerged. Apparently some Chinese people believe exactly that. Some of the lab animals were sold to the wet market. And that's how the virus jumped from animal to host. Although evidence is scant. Then again it's China.
- trashtester 4y agoNow, IF this is true, it would also explain why it seems that the government is trying to cover up what happened at the institute. If this hypothesis were to be true, it might cause China/the CCP to lose face more than many other alternatives, as such corruption could be seen as a weakness of the current system.
- rcpt 4y agoThe prior might be higher than you think https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/47531/did-a-chinese-researcher-sell-his-lab-animals-to-street-food-vendors https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/47531/did-a-chi...
- waffleiron 4y agoThats an opinion piece in a tabloid, without a shred of supporting proof for that claim.
- rcpt 4y ago? The discussion in there links court documents where they establish that he was selling lab animals. https://wenshu.court.gov.cn/website/wenshu/181107ANFZ0BXSK4/index.html?docId=8d2ef016c4824e818e90ab370113a270 https://wenshu.court.gov.cn/website/wenshu/181107ANFZ0BXSK4/...